Improvement in self-adjusting guides for sewing lap-seams in sewing-machines



W. A. SPRINGER.

sErLF-ADJUSTING GUIDES For. SEWING LAP-sEAMs 11N SEWING-MACHINES.

N. 169,860. Patented Nov. 9,1875.

N.PETERS, PHOT0-L|THOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. LLC.

WILLIAM A. SPRINGER, OF MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPRovMENT IN summusme GUIDES For SEWINGLAPsEAMs iN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specic-ation forming part of Letters Patent No. l69,60, dated November 9, 1875 application filed July 19,1875. y i

. ments in Self-Adjusting Guides for Sewing Lap-Scams in SewingMachines, and `which is particularly adapted to the manufacture of boots and shoes; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact de` scription of the same, reference being had to the 'accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l represents a top or plan View of my said improved guide. Fig. 2 represents a front view. Fig. 3 represents an end view. Fig. 4 represents a section on line A B, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of arrow 1, when the guide is in use for sewing a lap seam. Fig. 5 represents a section on the same line, when the guide is used for sewing the second row of stitches in a lap-seam, as will be hereafter explained; and Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 represent vertical sections on line C D, D E, E F, and F G, respectively, looking in the direction of the arrow 2, Fig. 1, as will be hereafter more fully explained.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in detail.

In the drawings, the part 'marked A represents the stationary part of the guide, and B the movable part. The part A is shown secured to the top of a post, G, similar to the post used in the well-known machine called the New England wax-thread sewing-machine,7 while the movable part B has two pins, a and b, which project downward and pass through hole-s in the stationary part A, made for that purpose. The front inner edges of the parts A and B are beveled off, as shown at 3 and 4, Figs. 2, 3, 8, and 9, for the purpose of facilitating the introduction and passage of that portion of the Work which is fed forward between the two guide-pieces A and B. The movable piece B is provided upon its upper side with a guide or projection, D, having a shoulder, c, rounded off, as fully indicated in Fig. l, while the stationary part A has a long slot, d, for the V:passage of the perforating awl and needle in the usual manner.

The operation of sewing a lap-seam upona sewing-machine, provided with one of my self-- the piece E will be fed forward between theV parts A'and B, with its edge c bearing against the edge of the guide-pin c, while the part F will be fed forward above the movable part B of the guide, with its edge f bearing against the shoulder c of the guide or projectionD, all as indicated in Fig.4 of the drawings, and as the work is fed forward over the needle-hole d a row of stitches will he formed, and the parts E and F will be stitched together near the edge f ofthe part F, while the edge e of the part E will extend some distance under the part F. The operator allows the two pieces to be fed forward and stitched together, as above described, until the piece E has passed entirely under the movable guide-pieceB, when he quickly turns the work (momentarily stopping the machine) end for end, so that both pieces of the work will be fed back over the top of the movable guide-piece B, which drops down as soon as the material passes from under it, with the edge c of the piece E bearing against the shoulder c of the guide-piece D, as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings, whereby a second row of stitches is formed near the edge e of the part E, and at the desired4 distance from the other row of stitches,`whereby the parts are securely stitched together by means of two rows of stitches at the desired distance apart, and from the edges e and f of the parts E and F. The part A is recessed or cut out, so that when the part B drops down, as shown in Fig. 5,' after the first row of stitches has been formed, the top of the part B will be flush with the top surface of the part A, the guide-pieceD only projecting above the surface of the part A.

In Figs. 2, 3, and 5 the part B is shown in full lines dropped down, so as to rest upon the part A, while in Figs. 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 the part B is shown elevated as it appears when one portion of the material is being run under the ,PA'rmwjr FFICE.

movable part B of the guide. If desired,`the

- partA may be so made as tO receive right and left handed pieces B, in which case all the Operator would have to do would be to slip out a right-handed piece and insert a lefthan ded piece, B, as occa sion required. In Figs. 2 and 3 the adjustability of the piece B is indicated by dotted lines.

This feature of my invention enables the guide part B to readily adjust itself in sewing material which varies in thickness, since, when a thick part of the material passes un der the part B, the latter rises, but falls again when a thinner portion of the material is reached, it being Open on three sides for the passage of the bottom piece.

Those skilled in the art, particularly in manufacturing shoes by machinery, will readily appreciate the practical advantages `and importance of my invention, sinceit enables the Operator to sew a lap-seam, with two rows of Stitches, by the use of a sin gle-needle machine, in a very uniform and perfect manner, and that, too, without any addition to the machine, which interferes materially with the ordinary sewing Of single rows of stitches, or with the sewing of the second row of stitches in a lapseam, since the parts A and B of the guide are so constructed that when the guide is used for sewing ordinary Work, or the second row in a, lap-seam, the work in reality rests upon a at table, the upper surface ofthe parts A andB being in the same horizontal 1 plane.

In case the Operator does not wish to use the guide-piece D, the guide-piece B can be quickly removed from the stationary plate A,

the pins a and b being slipped out of their guide-holes in the part A, which latter then answersthe purpose of a common sewingplate.

In sewing lap-heel seams to shoes the operator commences at the bottom and ends at the bottom, the turn being made at the top with and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Y l. The combination, with the stationary part A Of the guide, of the movable part B, sub stantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the parts A and B, of the guide-pin d and guide shoulder c, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

3. In machinery for sewing a lap-seam in the manufacture of boots and shoes, a guidepiece, having'on its upper side av guide for the upper part of the Work, and on its under side a guide for the lower part of the work, said guide-piece being Open on three sides for the passage of the lower part of the work, and seltadjusting tO conform to the inequalities thereof, substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM A. SPRINGER. Y'

Witnesses THOs. H. DODGE, EDWINv E. MOORE. 

